The Truffle

Okay, I'm back

2009-11-22T18:33:00.001-05:00

I have a question:

Am I the only one sick of vampires? I don't want to read any Twilight books, see any Twilight movies, read any Sookie Stackhouse novels, or watch any vampire related shows. There are too many vampires. Enough already! Can't we have more werewolves?

Okay, there are exceptions.

I've moved.

2009-06-24T23:33:00.001-04:00

Check out my new blog addy. Nothing against Blogger; just wanted a change of scene.

I'm curious...

2009-06-24T18:39:00.001-04:00

...Where do wingnuts get the impression that liberals support Islamic terrorism? If that were true, wouldn't there be a lot of liberals in Gitmo?

Really, they're just making things up. Again.

Crybaby conservative alert!

2009-03-14T14:20:00.003-04:00

Li'l Tucker Carlson still hasn't forgiven Jon Stewart for being mean to him on "Crossfire."

Say, what has Tucker been up to these days, anyway?

Welcome to Planet Clueless

2009-03-01T15:38:00.002-05:00

In 2006, Rush Limbaugh claimed he'd been "liberated" from his role as GOP stooge. Now, he's the freaking party's de facto leader, declaring once again, at CPAC, that he wants Obama to fail.

This is good for the Democrats. In the words of Rahm Emmanuel on "Face the Nation":

He's asked for President Obama and called for President Obama to fail. That's his view. And that's what he has enunciated. And whenever a Republican criticizes him, they have to run back and apologize to him and say they were misunderstood. He is the voice and the intellectual force and energy behind the Republican Party. He has been up front about what he views and hasn't stepped back from that, which is he hopes for failure. He said it and I compliment him for his honesty. But that's their philosophy that is enunciated by Rush Limbaugh and I think that's the wrong philosophy for America....

When a Republican did attack him he clearly had a turn-around and comeback and basically said that he apologized and was wrong. I think do think he's an intellectual force, which is why the Republicans pay such attention to him.

Earth to GOP! Earth to GOP! Didn't Limbaugh's blatherings about Michael J. Fox cost you guys a senate seat in Missouri?

Something tells me that the party's going to get their asses kicked yet again in 2010. Suppose the Republicans are down to 35 Senate seats and 150 House seats by 2011. Will they get a clue then?

I second this idea

2009-02-28T18:08:00.000-05:00

From Cleek:

Obama should go on TV and read the dictionary definition of “socialism“. Then he should ask, “Have I ever suggested that the government should take over the means of production? No? THEN SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU IGNORANT DOUCHEBAGS. Thank you. And God Bless America.”

ELO, "Sweet Talking Woman"

2009-02-28T16:09:00.001-05:00

In memory of Kelly Groucutt, ELO bassist (1945-2009):

CPAC: The song parody

2009-02-28T16:05:00.002-05:00

"C-P-A-C"
(Sung to the tune of the Village People's "Y.M.C.A.")

Wingnut! Do you feel out of place?
I say, wingnut! Why that frown on your face?
Are you sick of 'Bama, Hillary and Joe?
There's gathering where you should go

Wingnuts! Pundits giggling at you?
Hey wingnut! You're rubber and they're glue
Because wingnuts! Are Americans true
So show them you're patriotic

Bring yourself to the C-P-A-C
Yes, you'll have fun at the C-P-A-C
We will make you look sane!
We will make you look hip!
Believe us, it's worth the trip!

C-P-A-C! You'll have fun at the C-P-A-C!
Joe the Plumber is there! So are Coulter and Steele!
So come over to cool your heels!

Wingnuts, we've got teabags unused
Our plans for a tea party fell through
But we'll pretend that it was a success
As we dig our way out of this mess

Wingnuts! Where is Jindal? Here's Mitt!
Where is Sarah? Our movement's in deep shit
But they passed on our gathering this year
Are they really so ungrateful?

Oh, who cares, it's the C-P-A-C!
We're having fun at the C-P-A-C!
You will be among friends. It's a trip and a half!
You can speak and no one will laugh.

C-P-A-C. You're not alone at the C-P-A-C
We're conservatives true--no RINOs need apply
If you're Specter, then say goodbye

Wingnuts! Yes, it's true we were trounced
But wingnuts! We still know how to bounce
Back to power! Ask Goldwater and Ron
Read our history--you'll know we're not wrong!

Wingnuts! We will use hip-hop slang!
Oh yeah, wingnuts! We'll come back with a bang!
We'll be current! And we'll be cutting-edge!
Are there old ideas we can dredge?

C-P-A-C...We'll still have fun at the C-P-A-C
You will be among friends. It's a trip and a half!
You can speak and no one will laugh.

C-P-A-C...We're having fun at the C-P-A-C...

Dare I ask where these people come from?

2009-01-29T20:28:00.002-05:00

Chip Saltsman was, just a short time ago, one of the assorted wannabe GOP leaders. A candidate for party chairman, in fact.

Now, however, the wannabe is a won't-be. Note to other GOP hopefuls: Do you guys want to be a Southern party forever? If the answer is "no," then quit with the racist crap, will you please?

Would that this were real...

2009-01-21T20:43:00.001-05:00

The letter Bush left for Obama.

Close captioning gone wrong

2009-01-21T19:33:00.000-05:00

From Best Week Ever, via Socialite Life.

The new patriotism

2009-01-20T22:24:00.002-05:00

With Obama's election, Americans are suddenly patriotic again. How cool is that?

They painted Barack Obama as an unpatriotic, "terrorist sympathizing" candidate whose values are foreign to the American way of life. How could it be that his ascendance to the presidency should be the occasion for the new patriotic spirit sweeping America?

Yesterday on the mall in Washington hundreds of thousands belted out "This Land is Your Land" led by 90-year-old labor activist and folk singer Pete Seeger who was blacklisted in the 50s. The eyes of white middle aged working guys moistened as they listened to a black children's choir sing "America the Beautiful". And throughout the crowd -- even among the aging 60s activists who had struggled against the Vietnam War -- there was a genuine, deep admiration for the men and women who risk it all every day in our armed forces.

And it's not just in Washington. As unlikely as it might seem to the right, the election of Barack Hussein Obama has caused an intense feeling of patriotism to well up across the country.

I guess a president that inspires optimism and that wonderful we're-all-in-this-together spirit will do that.

A music break

2009-01-20T22:22:00.001-05:00

Lena Horne singing "Stormy Weather." Hope that wherever she is, she's loving this inauguration.

Oh, boo hoo

2009-01-19T20:15:00.003-05:00

Alberto Gonzales isn't the only Bush staffer who can't get hired. Via WaPo:

As President-elect Barack Obama's team transitions into the federal government tomorrow, President Bush's political appointees will be locked out, and in these tough economic times many of them are scrambling to find new jobs. High-ranking White House loyalists have deluged Washington headhunters with pleas for jobs. Corporations and nonprofit organizations have stopped hiring. With the GOP out of power, jobs on Capitol Hill are scant and K Street lobbying firms have trimmed their golden parachutes.

So this is the new reality: Instead of boasting to friends and colleagues of new jobs in goodbye e-mails, many longtime Bush aides have offered home phone numbers and Gmail and Yahoo e-mail addresses as their new contacts.

"For Republicans, the inn is full," lamented veteran GOP operative Ron Kaufman, a close White House adviser to former president George H.W. Bush and an executive at Dutko Worldwide. "You have lots of folks in the House and Senate on the streets and 3,000 administration appointees on the streets at a time when the job market is shrinking anyways. It's just not a fun time."

The crappy job market is the worst of their worries, though WaPo won't acknowledge this. That said, where are the rich benefactors of the farright, the ones funneling their inherited billions into wingnut-welfare think tanks? Where is the Heritage Foundation? Where are the American Enterprise Institute, the Independent Women's Forum, the Hoover Institution? Wingnuts look after their own, yes? Won't some of them offer jobs to these otherwise-unemployable Bush dead-enders?

Via Bazzfazz.

Uh-oh!

2009-01-19T20:03:00.001-05:00

It's President Bush's last day in office (man, it feels so good to write this), and he hasn't pardoned Scooter Libby. Who wants to bet Scooter's tell-all will be hitting bookshelves in two or three years?

The stupid! It BUUUUUURRRRNS!

2009-01-18T21:10:00.003-05:00

This is just funny. Beelzebub and Lucifer--uh, I mean, Mike Huckabee and Ann Coulter--are doin' the "I'm more of a wingnut than YEW!" thang.

Meanwhile, here's the condensed Rush Limbaugh: "Waaaaaaaah! Liberals were mean to Bush in 2001! They never liked him! Why should we conservatives be nice to Obama, huh? Waaaaaaaah!"

Krispy Kreme are TEH BABY KILLERS!!1!1!

2009-01-18T20:19:00.002-05:00

Apparently, this isn't a joke:

KRISPY KREME CELEBRATES OBAMA WITH PRO-ABORTION DOUGHNUTS Washington, DC (15 January 2009) -

The following is a statement from American Life League president Judie Brown:

“The next time you stare down a conveyor belt of slow-moving, hot, sugary glazed donuts at your local Krispy Kreme, you just might be supporting President-elect Barack Obama’s radical support for abortion on demand - including his sweeping promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Act as soon as he steps in the Oval Office, Jan. 20.

Hear that, kids? When you eat Krispy Kreme doughnuts, you kill babies.

How can Judie Brown say this crap with a straight face, anyway?

Some people never learn

2009-01-18T20:11:00.002-05:00

Them Beltway folks sure is silly. I mean, there's clueless, and then there's clueless. From WaPo:

With a black first family in the White House and a diverse group of appointees and Cabinet nominees, the all-white dinner party feels all wrong. Certain hosts are suddenly grappling with a new reality: They need some black friends. Overnight, black politicians, lawyers and journalists are hot properties, receiving engraved invitations from people they never got invitations from before.

Blacks have gone from barely being on the list to being in charge of the list.

"Everyone knows that his campaign was about inclusion," Jarrett said. "We would expect that spirit of inclusion to also reflect on Washington's social scene."

They finally realized that the young black kids with the hors d'œuvre trays don't count, eh?

This has been another edition of The Beltway Is Totally Out of Touch.

Via Booman Tribune.

And if you thought the video below was weird...

2009-01-17T14:00:00.003-05:00

Someone with a lot of spare time has posted Far Side Reenactments. Thanks to Elayne Riggs, who checks out this stuff so other people don't have to. I owe her some black metal links.

Okay, I'm scared to say this...

2009-01-17T13:53:00.002-05:00

But the video below, combining the Scissor Sisters' quasi-disco and three goofball black metal videos, works, in a seriously perverse way. I originally discovered this in the Facebook group Any Picture Can Be Improved by Adding Immortal to It.

Move over, Peggy Noonan!

2009-01-17T13:43:00.005-05:00

You too can be a political speechwriter! Here's how!

My fellow Americans, today is a floppy day. You have shown the world that "hope" is not just another word for "chapeau", and that "change" is not only something we can believe in again, but something we can actually smack.

Today we celebrate, but let there be no mistake – America faces heavy and delicious challenges like never before. Our economy is sordid. Americans can barely afford their mortgages, let alone have enough money left over for dopes. Our healthcare system is odd. If your kidney is sick and you don't have insurance, you might as well call a sales representative. And America's image overseas is tarnished like a keychain floppy disk. But groping together we can right this ship, and set a course for Dubai.

Finally, I must thank my tipsy family, my luscious campaign volunteers, but most of all, I want to thank Hawaiians for making this historic occasion possible. Of course, I must also thank you, President Bush, for years of dribbling the American people. Without your spacey efforts, none of this would have been possible.

This is 2009's Next Big Thing

2009-01-15T23:14:00.001-05:00

Victoria Hesketh, aka Little Boots, performing "Meddle."

A fitting end to the eight-year disaster

2009-01-15T23:07:00.002-05:00

Bush's farewell speech was brushed aside as the miraculous plane landing in the Hudson monopolized the news. He's boring. He keeps saying the same shit over and over. And basically, he sucks. We all know this.

It'll be fun to hear the wingers whine about Obama for the next four years. This time, sensible people can say, "Well, do you really think anything was better under Bush?" That should shut them up.

Think YOU'VE been embarrassed?

2009-01-14T22:05:00.003-05:00

A former Republican aide has been caught scalping tickets to Obama's inauguration...just hours before the practice became illegal. Oops.

Don't do it, Caroline!

2009-01-14T21:13:00.003-05:00

I used to like Caroline Kennedy. Now...not so much.

Sure, she was a curiously pallid figure, but she was classy. She had a low-key life writing books, serving on assorted foundation boards, raising money for the New York City schools, and carrying the Camelot torch. After watching her mother run the paparazzi gauntlet, you couldn't blame her for avoiding a life on the public stage.

There are only two things that could explain her current interest in La Hill's Senate seat:

a. Uncle Ted put her up to it, because there just has to be a Kennedy in the Senate.

b. She's going through a mid-life crisis.

I'm inclined to believe the former. Uncle Ted's not long for this world, so he's nudging his publicity-shy niece into the spotlight. Weirdly enough, she's playing along with it--and why? If anyone's gone out of her way to avoid controversy during her half-century on the planet, it's Caroline Kennedy.

This is not a bad thing, of course. Except when you're in politics, where controversy is unavoidable. It pains me to say this, she's basically a Caroline-come-lately. As Jane Hamsher notes:

Her leadership could have been really helpful when we were trying to keep the progressive lights on and getting the stuffing beaten out of us by a very well-financed right wing for the past eight years. But when things were tough, she was nowhere to be found.

Now that the Democrats are in power, she'd like to come in at the top.

Case in point: Kennedy's co-wrote two books about civil liberties. And, as Al Giordano notes, she and coauthor Ellen Alderman did their own exhaustive research; these books were not vanity projects.

I don't doubt Kennedy's commitment to the Bill of Rights and privacy. Given her expertise, she could've spoken out against warrantless wiretaps or the FISA bill. She and Alderman could've even updated their books with new chapters on, say, the Patriot Act or the rights of Gitmo detainees. She could have done consulting work for the ACLU (as Bob Barr and Dick Armey have done). Instead, she was editing A Patriot's Handbook and Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

I have nothing against political families; the new US Senate has two cousins from the legendary Udall clan, after all (and another Udall relative was just voted out). I just want them to prove themselves instead of coasting in based on star power.

Katha Pollitt, writing in the latest issue of the Nation, adds two possible candidates: Elizabeth Holtzman (a civil libertarian like Kennedy) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney as candidates. Maloney has served eight terms in the House of Representatives--in fact, she's Kennedy's congresswoman. "Moving her to the Senate would free up her district...so Kennedy can run for her seat and get into office the old-fashioned way," Pollitt suggests.